The Heart of the Island
by Riene Seregon
Summary: “Let me guess, another native?”. Ella raised an eyebrow. “I suppose you could call me that” she offered. The man suddenly grinned and held out his free hand. “Frank J. Lapidus, pleased to meet you”. Frank/OC
1. Chapter One: Curiosity

Hey everyone. Welcome to my story, please read and review 

None of the characters belong to me, apart from Ella. I'm just borrowing the rest!

The Heart of the Island

Chapter One: Curiosity

When having lived on the island for any period of time, one came to realise that being alert to any activity which was happening on the island was of definite benefit. You didn't survive in this place, unless you knew what was going on around you at any one time.

Generally she was a curious sort of girl, but also recognised the need to be sensible and cautious in this place and had thus made a decision to keep away from most of the other inhabitants where possible after discovering in her first days on the island that they couldn't be trusted. The survivors of flight 815 had been an exception to this. She had even eventually come to make a few friends amongst the group of people who had survived the crash after she had watched them secretly for a good while and decided they seemed friendly enough. However she had always refused to move to any of their settlements instead preferring to stay in her own little home which she had built up since she had arrived.

Despite her preference for avoiding those who she referred to as 'Ben's lot' she still liked to keep track of what they were up to (usually something worth keeping an eye on) which had proven useful on several occasions. This mindset of needing to be alert at all times to protect herself and also a healthy amount of curiosity were the very reasons why at this particular moment, Ella was paying special interest as to why the helicopter she had seen earlier had once again appeared, swooping over her head and landing some way away in the distance. The circumstances at this point had seemed important enough to merit her attention, besides, she had reasoned, 'the others' didn't have helicopters. So she had, gathered together her usual gear in her worn old backpack and set off, trekking in the direction towards where she estimated the chopper had landed.

Sometime later upon hearing a commotion nearby, she rushed towards the scene. Slowing down as she neared and dropping into a crouch, she crept closer. The sound of gunfire had dispersed quickly, leaving the area quiet, but as usual, not quite silent, this place was never silent. She supposed Ben's people had taken care of the gunmen that she had heard. Always watching, waiting, creeping around in the jungle they were, ready to sneak up behind you and slit your throat when you least expected it, all the more reason to pay attention to what was going on around you.

_So... There's the helicopter_.

You couldn't really miss it, the large metal monster glinting in the sunlight in the middle of the clearing. What on earth was a helicopter doing here? Edging around the patch of open space she moved in towards the chopper. Her ears picked up on a clanking noise, followed by a curse. Ducking lower immediately she held her breath for a moment, listening. There was no more movement. She hadn't been spotted, which was a good thing. She had never particularly enjoyed being shot at.

A few seconds later there was a shuffling noise and she saw the source of the curse emerge from inside the helicopter. She hadn't been able to see inside it from the angle she was at. The person who emerged was definitely a he and it took her a moment to realise that this 'he' was handcuffed and trying, seemingly in vain to remove the cuff. So that was what the clanking noise had been. After a few more attempts at striking the handcuffs the man turned his head in Ella's direction and called out.

"I know you're out there so you might as well come out".

Confusion slid across her face and she froze for a second when she realised he was talking to her, she hadn't made a sound. Taking a good look around the clearing trying to determine whether it was a trap, Ella made the decision to stand up and step into the open, keeping her eyes warily on the man in front of her. For his part he kept his eyes trained on her frowning at her as she stepped carelessly over a body moved to stand in front of him.

He spoke again.

"Let me guess, another native?".

Ella raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose you could call me that" she offered.

The man suddenly grinned and held out his free hand.

"Frank J. Lapidus, pleased to meet you".

Ella stared dumbly at his hand for a moment, his sudden change of demeanour unsettling her slightly before deciding that he looked fairly trustworthy and reached out to take it. The pause didn't go unnoticed.

"Ella" she stated, shaking his hand and nodding, "My name is Ella".

"Well Ella" he spoke still grinning, "Can you get me the hell out of these things?"

He held up his arm and jangled the cuffs.

"Sure" she replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as his laid back attitude caused her to begin to relax in his presence. "I'll give it a go".

A few minutes later Frank's wrist was finally free of the offending item. He rubbed his wrist massaging away ache from having to hold it in the same position for so long.

"Thanks" he said, noting that the girl had moved a good few paces away from him since he was free, but not taking offence.

"No problem", she smiled.

Ella ran her hand along the side of the chopper, studying the smooth metal which was now peppered with bullet holes thanks to the gun fight. She turned to question the man stood next to her.

"How on earth did you manage to get a helicopter here?"

Looking up from her hand that he had been watching glide over the chopper to her face he replied,

"I flew it".

It must have been enough of an answer for her he figured, as she didn't question it any further.

She shook her head and made a strange humming noise to herself.

"You're lucky you landed in one piece" she pointed out.

"So I gather" said Frank wryly.

Ella opened her mouth ready to ask him another question when a noise came from the edge of the clearing. Both of them turned quickly on guard then relaxed when each respectively realized who it was approaching. The first to speak was Sawyer.

"Well if it isn't little Ellabelle. Fancy seeing you here missy".

Ella smiled at him,

"Hello James".

Sawyer grinned wolfishly, grabbing hold of her and giving her a huge squeeze, his hands as usual wandering to grab a handful of her rump.

"Surprised we ain't seen you around sooner".

Ella blushed (also as usual), but kept her composure and extracted herself from his grasp.

"Well you know me" she quipped.

"I suppose I do" he replied and moved past her to slap Frank on the back.

"I see you got yourself free then" he remarked.

"With a little help" said Frank, nodding in Ella's direction.

"Ella" greeted Kate, "Hi".

"Hey" she replied to the older girl, smiling and giving her a quick hug.

She then turned to greet Jack and the rest of the party.

After everyone had said their hellos, Jack took hold of Ella's elbow and led her to one side. When Ella looked at him questioningly Jack spoke.

"Ella, we're leaving the island. There is a ship off shore; Frank here is going to fly us there now".

Ella, having realised the implications when she had seen the helicopter earlier nodded.

"Do you want to come with us Ella? There's room on the chopper for you".

Ella faltered for a moment. She had been on the island for so long now she had become used to this world. Did she really want to leave, was there anything actually out there for her in the real world. Looking up at Jack, his face full of hope and excitement, she felt hope begin to fill her own, despite her reservations, she found herself nodding.

"Yes Jack, I'd like to come with you, please".

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Ok so that was chapter one, chapter two to come soon, let me know what you guys think!

XxX


	2. Chapter Two: Inevitable

As usual, I own nothing except for Ella and my own storylines. The rest belongs to the very creative and wonderful people at Lost.

The Heart of the Island

Chapter Two: Inevitable

It was amazing just how quickly the island could lash out at you when you were doing something that as always, inevitably she didn't seem to like. This is what Ella had come to think over the years anyway. What was happening at this present moment just couldn't be a coincidence, there was no possible way and she would never be convinced otherwise in the future to come.

They had barely been up in the sky and flying across the cerulean ocean, which she noted was stunningly beautiful from this perspective, when she heard Sayid utter the words,

"What's wrong".

"We're losing fuel".

Ella suddenly felt mildly sick.

"Look outside, tell me if you can see anything" Frank yelled, seemingly pretty calm, despite his tone.

Must be a pilot thing she figured vaguely before her mind turned towards more important things.

Everyone stuck their heads outside the aircraft looking for the problem. Sayid, leaning out from the cockpit door spotted it first, followed by everyone else. There were a serious of bullet holes in the side of the chopper, she had known this from her inspection earlier however now she could quite clearly see that one had pierced the fuel tank and was gushing out fuel on her side of the chopper. Elle bit her lip. She had never even imagined at the time that a bullet would have breached the fuel tank, the thought had never crossed her mind. She felt a small amount of guilt at her stupidity. She more than anyone, should have known better.

"We've got to get every ounce of extra weight off this chopper now", Frank's voice resounded over the whooshing, grating noise of the helicopter.

Immediately Ella responded, grabbing the tool box from under her seat and hurling it over the side. When every un-needed item had been thrown overboard Jack turned to Frank.

"Is that enough?"

The pilot's response wasn't exactly encouraging; in his opinion they were still too heavy.

Ella looked out of the side again, leaning down to get a closer look.

"Well, can't we plug the hole?" she asked.

"Can you reach it?" came Frank's reply.

"I... I think so, let me try, Hurley, grab my legs. Don't let go yeah".

Hurley took a firm hold of Ella's legs and with that she leant back over the side and proceeded to try and reach the hole.

"I can reach it" she cried out. "I just need something..."

Removing her shirt, leaving her in just her vest (which wasn't exactly an easy task to accomplish whilst hanging upside down), Ella took it and tore a strip from its hem. Scrunching the strip up, she stuffed it into the hole, pushing it in as deep as she could manage.

"Ok, erm, I need something sticky, some tape or something" she shouted up to the others.

"Looks like it's your lucky day there Ellabelle".

Sawyer's head popped over the side as he handed her down a strip of tape. Using the tape Ella covered the cloth holding it in place.

"There" she yelled. "It's done, hopefully it will hold".

Ella was just reaching for the edge of the helicopter to pull herself up when her legs slipped from Hurley's grasp. With a shriek, she fell back, smacking her head on the landing skids, but managing to grab hold of one, halting her decent. She cried out in pain flailing for a second, then much to Hurley's relief managed to gain a more solid grip. Jack was there immediately.

"Are you alright Ella" he worriedly called out to her, leaning over to try and reach her hand.

Ella let go of the rail with one hand to try and grasp his, but to no avail.

"I'm just great Jack, thanks!" she replied breathily, struggling to crane her neck to look at him. "It's no good, I can't reach you" she added giving up and going back to holding the rail with both hands so she wouldn't fall.

She pulled her legs up and wrapped these around the rail also clinging on.

"Well just hang on ok?"

"Yeah, no problem", she scoffed, scowling at the doctor.

Hurley's head popped over the side.

"Sorry dudette!" he exclaimed.

Ella gave him a weak smile.

"Look, the freighter" Sayid pointed out to Frank.

"Yeah I see it" he replied. "She alright?" Frank called out to the back of the helicopter tossing a look over his shoulder; he couldn't see her from where he was sitting.

"She's ok" replied the doc.

"Great, well tell her to hang on tight 'cause I see the boat up ahead".

Jack turned back to Ella.

"Ella, we're nearly at the boat, hang tight".

Ella hung on as she saw the freighter come into view underneath her. As Frank began to lower she chopper to the boat, Desmond of all people came rushing towards them on the boat, yelling something. Ella couldn't make out what he was saying and uncurled her legs ready to drop to the floor when she was close enough. Dropping down, Desmond steadied her as she landed.

"Ella! What the hell are you doing here." He questioned in astonishment as soon as she was down.

They moved out of the way for the helicopter to land. As soon as it landed, Desmond grabbed hold of her hand in his and started dragging her back and pushing her into the aircraft, not giving her any chance to question him as to what was going on.

"We've got to go now" he yelled at Frank. "There's a bomb on the boat, we have no time, you've got to get off the boat right now".

Sayid and Jack at Frank's instruction immediately went about pumping some fuel into the craft and Ella jumped out and grabbed the life raft nearby throwing it onboard. After several minutes of rushing around the chopper was ready to go.

"Everybody on board now!" ordered Frank as he began preparing to take off.

Jack pulled Kate, who had run off to find Jin, back to the helicopter, ignoring her protests.

"We can't go without Jin" cried Sun desperately.

"Son of a bitch" cursed Sawyer, before hurling himself back off the helicopter. "I'll go get him, we can take one of the life crafts" he said to Jack.

Jack nodded at him.

"Freckles, I'll see you in a bit". He gave her a swift kiss, yelled at Frank not to wait for him and he was off.

Frank began to take off, pulling away from the freighter. There was still no sign of Sawyer, Jin or Michael. The helicopter gained some height and then all of a sudden came the huge explosion they had all been anticipating, yet still it came as a shock. Too close to the boat, the shockwave hit them alongside a blast of heat, but Frank managed to pull them out of it. Gradually after recovering from the shock, the horror of the situation began to set in. That was when Sun gave a bloodcurdling, heart wrenching scream. It took a few moments of her screaming for her husband and pleading to go back before she was finally quiet. She went limp and fell back against the seat Ella wrapped her arms around the ghostly pale shaking woman and held her tightly.

The chopper turned back towards the island, and Ella closed her eyes, blocking it from her view. It wasn't going to let her leave, it never let her leave. It was an ongoing unstoppable force. A sob bubbled up in her throat but she held it back for Sun's sake. Opening her eyes she looked at the people sitting around her. They all looked like her she supposed, shell shocked. That's when she caught sight of it, the bright light gradually rising up from the core of the island.

"Oh god" she choked out pointing frantically, "He's moving it".

The others turned to her, confusion filling their faces as they turned towards the light. Suddenly it clicked in her mind what was about to happen. Pale and shaking, she released the Korean woman and lunged across the chopper towards Frank.

"We need to get to the island, now!" she urged panicking.

"We're not getting there any faster than this" he replied grimly, throwing a glance at her pale face.

The light grew so intense that they had to look away and then...

It was gone.

"It wouldn't let me leave" she murmured to herself. "It wouldn't let me leave but now it's left me."

Ella felt herself begin to fill with a sickening dread.

_How could she leave me. _

With a lurch Ella came back to herself as Jack shook her.

"Ella, we're going down, put your life jacket on".

She felt her stomach shoot up into her throat as the helicopter began is swift decent, she didn't even have time to put her jacket on before they smashed into the water, and then there was nothing.

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Ok guys well that is the end of chapter two, sorry I had to basically replay a few bits of the series there (not to mention swap a few bits around), but needed to do that to get to the next part of Ella's story.

I've changed the format of my writing, so hopefully it all reads a bit easier now.

Really hoped you enjoyed that chapter. Thank you to the lovely lady who reviewed the first chapter for me. If you will just stick with me, all will be explained in future chapters :D.


	3. Chapter Three: New Awakenings

The Heart of the Island

Chapter Three: New Awakenings

Ella's bright blue eyes flew open. She jolted to a sitting position with a gasp, followed by a moan, her fingertips travelling to her temples pressing against the ache that she found had formed there. She jumped slightly when a shadow appeared next to her, the mattress dipping with somebody's weight. She relaxed significantly when she realised that it was the pilot before groaning again and dropping her head into her hands.

"Welcome to the world of the living" he greeted softly, mindful of her obvious headache. "How you feeling?"

When she replied her voice was terse.

"Like I've been hit by a bus".

Frank chuckled

"Close enough".

She frowned, lifting her head and taking in what was around her.

"Are we on a boat?"

"Yeah, very perceptive of you, Desmond's girlfriends boat".

Ella scrunched her nose up in confusion.

"In fact" Frank started.

The door opened and a pretty mousey blonde woman stuck her head around the door.

"Ah. Nevermind" he finished.

"Ella!" the woman stated brightly walking forward into the room. "You're awake, how wonderful, I'm Penny".

She grasped Ella's hand firmly in her own before turning to Frank, not waiting for her greeting to be returned.

"How is our patient doing?"

"Well apart from a hell of a headache she seems alright to me" he replied.

Penny turned back to Ella, raising a hand to study the gash on her forehead. Ella winced but allowed her to continue. She was feeling surprisingly submissive at the moment.

_Must be the headache _she mused.

She registered the woman was speaking again and raised her eyes to hers.

"Sorry?" she questioned.

"I was just saying I'm going to go and get the doctor – Jack, he will want to take a look at you now that you are awake. He's been watching over you most of the night, we finally told him to go to bed this morning, Frank offered to take over from him".

She nodded in Frank's direction. Smiling once more and squeezing Ella's shoulder she slipped out of the room in search of the doctor.

Ella's gaze dropped from the door where Penny had left to what she was wearing. Striped blue pyjama bottoms with a white vest top. Her feet were bare. She snorted.

_Charming._

Pushing her long golden brown hair over her shoulders, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and started to stand up. Frank held out an arm to steady her as she wobbled slightly.

"So erm", she started, looking up at him. "What happened after we went down then? How did we end up here?"

"Well, we managed to get the life raft out in time, so we all swam to that. You were out of it. Kate and Jack grabbed you and pulled you onboard. We drifted around for a few hours and then would you believe it, Miss Widmore's boat came across us and well, here we are."

"But", she puzzled, "How did she find us?"

"Picked up a radio signal when Desmond rang her from the boat apparently."

"Oh, ok" she said her forehead crinkling.

"You really alright?" asked Frank, concerned.

Ella nodded, biting her lip and moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I'll survive".

It didn't take long for the doctor to appear in the room.

"Hi there" he greeted, walking over to pale looking girl.

"Hi Jack" she replied, smiling weakly in his direction.

"Frank" Jack nodded at the pilot.

"Doc" said Frank.

Turning his attention to Ella he questioned,

"Mind if I take a look at you?"

"Sure go ahead", Ella answered.

Jack took her face in his hands and checked the gash on her forehead. He then held out his finger.

"Watch this".

He moved his finger back and forth in front her eyes, checking her reactions. Seemingly satisfied he hummed to himself in that way that doctors tend to before asking Ella if she still had a headache. Ella confirmed this.

"Here take these", he directed, handing her a couple of pills from a packet in his pocket and pouring her a glass of water from the jug on the bedside table.

Ella took the pills and swallowed them, gulping down the tepid water afterwards.

"You know, you're pretty lucky" Jack stated. "You were face down in the water for a good couple of minutes before Kate spotted you, took a bit of effort to get you breathing again".

Personally at this moment, Ella didn't feel so lucky. She was beginning to regret her decision to ever step off the island. She had concluded not long after waking that it had to be punishing her. Ella was a superstitious and suspicious girl. She had a habit of doing that to you, the island. Ella pushed those thoughts aside sighing and instead spoke

"Yeah that's me, lucky". Her voice lacked gusto.

"Ok then" said Frank, "if you're ok now, then I'm going to head upstairs for some air..."

He looked at Ella as if asking for her permission.

"Hmm, yes I'm fine, you go ahead" she encouraged.

Frank nodded and headed out of the room, smiling at her before he shut the door behind him.

"Penny said there are some clothes in the cabinet for you", Jack pointed in its direction.

"Why don't you get changed and then come get something to eat, we are all in the lounge upstairs, it's just one floor up. Head up when you're ready yeah?"

With that he too left the room, leaving Ella alone.

Ella sighed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before heading over to the cabinet. Grasping the cool steel handles she pulled the doors open. Inside the cabinet on the shelf sat a worn looking pair of jeans and a simple black long sleeved top, alongside underwear and socks. Stripping out of the pyjamas, she quickly donned the clothes, they actually fit pretty well. Noticing that her own boots were sitting next to the bed, she went over to them she picked them up and noted thankfully that they were dry so pulled them on and tied the laces. Her hand then went to her neck, feeling for something. When she concluded that it was not there, Ella stared around the room and caught sight of what she was searching for. Her silver and gold pentacle pendant was sitting on the bedside table. Sliding her fingers over the cool metal, she grasped it and slid it over her head into place. Walking to the mirror next to the cabinet, she took a look at her reflection.

_Not great_ she thought, smoothing her hands over her face.

Combing her fingers through her hair to make herself as presentable as possible she took one last look and then walked to the door and stepped out of the room.

Feet clanking on the metal flooring, Ella spotted the stairs just down the corridor and began to climb them. Reaching the top she turned her head in both directions, deciding to head towards the voices she could hear. Popping her head around the door she found all the other 'survivors', including the pilot sitting around a table eating. They turned to greet her as she entered and took a seat at the end of one of the benches. After a few minutes of questioning her as to whether she was ok, they turned back to the conversation they had been having. Ella grabbed a chunk of bread from the nearest plate and started munching on it enthusiastically. She was starving. Listening to the conversation, she began to catch onto what they had been talking about.

_So they are going to lie about their time on the island, well I can understand that, it's probably for the best. Their plan to set themselves adrift seems a little farfetched but I suppose it could work. _

Ella realised that so far she hadn't been mentioned.

Piping up she asked,

"Where do I fit into this plan?"

Jack turned to her, pausing awkwardly.

"Ella, it wouldn't work for you to come with us, I'm afraid it will compromise the plan. You are going to have to carry on with Desmond, Penny and Frank back to the mainland on the boat. I'm sure they will help you sort yourself out"...

He looked over at Desmond and Penny who were sat, holding hands at the end of the table. Penny spoke up at Jack's look.

"Of course we will Ella. You're most welcome to come and stay with us for a while if you like until you find your feet."

Ella voiced appreciation, smiling at Penny, although slightly annoyed that her fate was being mapped out by everyone else and fully intending to go her own way once they reached land. It looked like she wasn't going to get a say in what she wanted at this present moment anyway, they had already planned everything without her. Resigning to let them get on with it for now, she grabbed an unopened beer from the centre of the table, flipped the lid off and took a long sip as the conversation moved away from her. The cold drink, cheered her slightly for a while. It had been so long since she had drunk anything vaguely alcoholic.

Frank had kept quiet whilst the conversation had turned to Ella. Although choosing not to comment on the subject he was in fact listening very carefully to what was unfolding.

_Poor girl. She looks lost. _

He mentally rolled his eyes.

_That's a good one Frank._

She was a big girl. She had been living on that island for god knows how long, she had to know how to take care of herself by now. Feeling his gaze on her, Ella turned to look at Frank. Sensing her mood wasn't exactly fantastic as he met her eyes he raised an eyebrow and shrugged apologetically grinning in a way he hoped would make her smile. It worked. Ella had to smile back and took another swig of her drink. The man's smile was infectious.

The next morning, Jack and the other survivors left. Ella said goodbye to all of them, kissing baby Aaron on the forehead and hugging everyone else. They climbed into the smaller boat and that was it. Watching them vanish into the distance as Penny's boat pulled away, Ella breathed in the sea air, preparing herself for the start of her new life and told herself that perhaps it was time to let the island go. She narrowed her eyes, not ready to believe fully that it had finished with her.

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Well there you go guys, chapter three. I think my chapters are progressively getting longer as I write them, which is a good thing. I'm starting to really get into the flow.

Hope you enjoyed this one! Read and Review :D

XxX


	4. Chapter Four: Flying High

The Heart of the Island

Chapter Four: Flying High

*FLASHBACK*

It was the most beautiful day.

The skies were pale blue with barely a cloud in the in the way to mar the views as the little plane soared across them. The enthusiastic teenager inside the plane was grinning from ear to ear as her father allowed her to take control of steering the small plane through the air over the lush green fields of the open countryside. An act she was well used to doing by now and yet she never became bored with it. The feeling she got from flying had always been and would always be completely exhilarating. It was a feeling that she would never grow out of.

"You're getting pretty good at this sweetheart aren't you" her father remarked, smiling at the pure joy on his daughter's young face.

Pride and happiness swelled in her chest at her father's praise.

"Can I fly the plane for real one day daddy?" she questioned.

"Sure you can honey" he replied.

Allowing her to carry on steering for a while longer, he eventually managed to get her to relinquish the controls into his own capable hands. A little while later, he had landed them safely back on the airfield.

"Ella", her father said to her, catching sight of a pilot friend of his he wanted to have a chat with. "Go wait in the hangar for me will you? I'll be right there".

Ella nodded. "Ok dad".

Ella slipped inside of the hangar, eyes adjusting to the dimness she found there. Wandering around and between the various planes and helicopters parked up inside, the girl ran her hands along the cool metal. She had always marvelled at these machines. The fact that man had invented something which could actually fly was just amazing to her. Hearing voices behind her Ella turned towards them and noted that the owner of the airfield, Simon, was busy talking to a man over to one side of the hanger. They looked to be discussing the plane which was parked over there. The man, tall and blond had a good look around the plane, commenting on it every now and again, or stopping to ask a question before eventually shaking hands with Simon and bidding him goodbye. Simon caught sight of Ella.

"Hey Kiddo" he greeted waving before heading inside his office.

Ella raised a hand in his direction.

The man Simon had been talking to started to walk across the hangar towards Ella, smiling at her on his way. Just has he started to pass her however, his briefcase popped open, emptying its contents over the floor. Ella immediately rushed to his aid, helping him to pick up all the spilt items and replace them in the case. When everything was in its rightful place, the man snapped the clips closed once again on his case. He turned his head to Ella and said

"Thank you..." he paused, waiting for her name.

"Ella", she supplied.

"Ella". The man smiled again. "What a lovely name. Thank you for the help!"

He held out his hand. She took it and he shook it warmly.

"You have a great day Ella".

Releasing her hand he turned to leave. Ella looked down to the floor.

"Oh wait" she cried out.

The man turned. Ella bent down and picked the photograph up.

"You forgot this".

She moved towards him and handed him the photo. He gazed at the picture of the passenger plane in his hand.

"You must be my lucky charm" he stated grinning. "This is important".

Ella smiled.

"Well I'd best be on my way now then". He tapped his watch, "Don't want to be late for my meeting". He nodded at her, walked away for a second time, and was gone.

*END FLASHBACK*

"Whatcha doing up here?"

Ella jumped and was startled out of her thoughts.

"Hmm" she questioned turning away from the rail she was leaning on to face the voice.

"It's freezing out here, aren't you cold?"

She smiled and shook her head at Frank who had appeared on the deck.

"No I'm fine – thanks" she added, pushing her unruly hair out of her face.

"We'll be hitting land soon." Frank informed her.

He stood next to her, taking up her previous position on the rail and staring out at the dark ocean.

"Cool, that's good." She said, enthusiasm lacking in her voice at the revelation.

"So you're going to be heading off with Desmond and Penny then?"

"Mmm, I guess. Although I'm thinking of going my own way once we get back to civilisation".

Frank nodded in understanding and they were both quiet for a moment.

"How long were you on the island for then?" Frank asked all of a sudden, breaking the silence.

"Eleven years" she replied straight away.

She had kept track of every second of those eleven years.

"I figured it had to be a while" he noted.

"So how old are you then?"

Ella raised an eyebrow in amusement.

_He certainly likes to get straight to the point._

Doing a few swift calculations in her head, she answered.

"Twenty four".

"So that would have made you thirteen when you first arrived then?"

"Hmm? No I was sixteen" she said before thinking.

She quite clearly remembered the fateful moment when she had been ungracefully and horrifically marooned on the island.

"You know... Your numbers don't add up there Ella" he pointed out matter-of-factly, turning his head to look at her.

His face remained emotionless as he waited for her to answer.

Ella stalled for the briefest of periods before she composed herself. Meeting his eyes and keeping her voice deadpan she said,

"I'm sorry, there's been so much going on I'm getting confused. You're right. I was thirteen years old when I came to the island".

"Spect that bump on the head isn't helping your memories eh?" Frank quipped mildly.

Ella nodded.

"Yeah, it's been an interesting couple of days".

Frank said no more on the matter and instead changed the subject. He was good at doing that.

"Talking about that" Frank started, "Good work on the chopper the other day. You look like you know how to fix a leak!"

"Thanks" she replied. "It wasn't exactly brain surgery. Besides, I know how to bodge a quick fix on a fuel tank anyways".

Frank digested the information thoughtfully.

"Lucky we had you onboard then ".

Ella smiled at him.

"Yeah lucky you!"

Frank chuckled.

There were a few more moments of comfortable silence between them, both of them enjoying the night sky and the gentle shadowed waves and undulations that the ocean created before Frank spoke again.

"Right well I'm going to head back inside. Got a couple of things to finalise with Miss Widmore before we hit port. I'll catch you later."

"See you later" Ella replied softly.

With that, the pilot pushed himself away from the railings, headed across the deck and went back through the door he had emerged from. Ella turned her face back to the ocean, the cool breeze sweeping across her skin. She closed her eyes and memorized the moment.

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There you go guys, chapter four. Hope you enjoyed that one!

Please read and review 

XxX


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